Shohei Ohtani is the real deal, so we should go ahead and declare it

Sure, we've only seen a handful of games. But after Shohei Ohtani’s latest show-off outing on a baseball field, the only thing on my mind is this question: How much longer? As in, how much longer do we have to wait to declare him a bona fide two-way success? Because with each dominant showing on the mound and multi-hit game at the plate, it feels more and more like what we’ve seen is what we’ll get.

In other words, let's go ahead and declare it.

What we saw Sunday in his second MLB pitching start was a pitcher in total control, casually having his way with an A’s lineup that looked mostly helpless and hopeless as this mesmerizing Japanese import pitched 6 1/3 of perfect ball en route to seven shutout innings, one hit, one walk and 12 strikeouts in a 6-1 Angels win.

It was hardly normal for a rookie in his second big-league start, and it's certainly not the norm for someone who also happens to hit 400-foot bombs when he's not toeing the rubber. But, of course, Shohei Ohtani is not normal. (Debate is ongoing as to whether he's actually human.)

Sunday’s outing came two days after Ohtani hit his third home run of the season in just 19 plate appearances. (For context, that’s as many home runs as the entire Marlins roster managed in the first nine games of the season.) Those long balls are part of his overall .389/.421/.889 slash line and his 1.310 OPS. That would be outstanding for any player. That such offense has come from a “pitcher,” well, this is exactly what we were told would happen — despite his decidedly subpar spring training. But as Angels broadcasters joked Sunday, that showing in Arizona might've just been the greatest six-week troll job in baseball history.

Shohei Ohtani, who should be honored Monday with the AL Player of the Week award, is the 1st player in 99 years to win 2 games and hit three HRs in the 1st 10 games of a season. He leads the #Angels in wins, tied with Mike Trout with 3 homers, and is the best show in baseball.

Coming into the season, we were promised a two-way superstar. We were promised that the "Babe Ruth of Japan" had the tools to dominate MLB in a way not seen in 100 years. Well, it appears thus far that the promise happened to be true.

On the mound, his fastball has topped 100 mph, with a splitter and off-speed stuff that are just silly and, if we’re being honest, not really fair for a 23-year-old human to possess. He paints the corners with precision. He's forever poised.

By the start of the seventh inning Sunday, he had 24 swings and misses — the most of anyone in baseball so far this season. He finished with 25 whiffs on 44 swings. Translation: His stuff was consistently nasty. Flukes tend not to be that nasty.

Theory: Given Shohei Ohtani's early success, we have to consider the possibility that he's just really good at baseball.

In his debut outing a week earlier, also against the A’s, Ohtani went six innings and allowed three runs — all coming on one hit — and recorded six strikeouts. That the A’s looked so befuddled Sunday, after having already faced him, is a telling detail. With a week to prepare and adjust, they were even more helpless. That bodes well for the Angels as the season progresses, and bodes poorly for the rest of the American League.

So, again, I ask: Is this enough? Can we say with certainty that Shohei Ohtani is the first legitimate two-way superstar since Babe Ruth? How much bigger of a sample do we need? Sure, there will be adjustments as the league(s) figure him out, or try to figure him out, but we’ve not seen anything so far that would indicate his early success on the mound or at the plate is some kind of a lucky mirage.